A Living Ghost
by lumutness
Summary: There is a rumor between the ghosts in the castle. Hermione wants to find out. [Drabble collection. Chapter 4: Say Hello]
1. One: Whispers Behind The Dusty Books

**AN:** Finally, I wrote something in English. Finally.

-o0o-

 _lumutness_ presents...

 **A Living Ghost**

(HPxDP drabble collection of sorts.)

.

 **Disclaimer  
** Danny Phantom (c) Nickelodeon  
Harry Potter (c) JK Rowling

 **Warning!**  
Drabble. No real plot. (and honestly? I forgot almost all of my grammar lessons, so... tell me if you find weird sentences or something. Just, _please_.)

-o0o-

 **Drabble 1.  
Whispers Behind The Dusty Books**

"There is a... rumor, of sorts, between the ghosts in the castle," Hermione flipped the dusty book on her lap. _Ghosts And How to Find Them_ , by Jonathan Nightinghale.

Curious.

"What kind of rumor?"

"...about, another kind of ghost. They call it a halfa, I think. They said that like it's some kind of slur," she wrinkled her nose, "Abnomination." At least, that was what The Bloody Baron called it. She debated with herself for a long time whether to agree with that or not.

An eyebrow raised, " _Ha-fuh_?" Well, make it two. "Where did you hear it, 'Mione?"

"It's pronounced _hal-fa_ , Ron. And I overheard it from Nearly Headless-Nick last week," she trailed, "Since the ghosts were pretty rattled for some reason, I guess this is really important."

"Since when you cared about their afterlife?"

Hermione shut her book with a snap, "Are you seriously asking me _that_?" she hissed, "The Ghosts were rattled, Ron. All of them. Did you ever see them like... like **_that_** before?"

"Not since Riddle's diary." Harry quiped.

That successfully shut Ron mouth's up.

"Exactly, Harry," She contemplated the book on her lap, "But no matter which book I read, I never found a _thing_ about this creature. Not a picture. No name. No _damn_ hint. No _nothing_."

"You're obsessed, Hermione," ...and this was the usually paranoid Harry Potter talking, "What is a _halfa_ , anyway?"

Halfa... _half_. Half of. But _half_ _of_ what?

"...that is exactly what I intend to find out."

She didn't like the way her stomach twisted in a knot at that.

-o0o-

 **AN:** I might continue this... or I might not.


	2. Two: First Impression

**AN:** I'm back...

.

 _lumutness_ presents...

 **A Living Ghost**

(HPxDP drabble collection of sorts.)

.

 **Disclaimer**

Danny Phantom Nickelodeon

Harry Potter JK Rowling

 **Warning!**

A set of connected drabbles. No real plot. No real continuity.

-o0o-

 **Drabble 2.  
First Impression**

His first impression when he stepped inside the gate of the castle was... well, it was a jawdropping experience. The castle was enormous. And damp. And dark. And full of weird things and slightly scary—ha, look at the one who said this. Irony seriously intended.

(Awesome definitely wasn't part of the description. He was still annoyed at the preson who set him in for this so shut up. _Please_.)

.

He walked slowly into the crowd of students, carefully minding his steps as he shivered slightly on his toes, blue mist vaporizing. He hugged himself tighter, grumbling miserably about the useless robe that is long enough to halt his movements—but not thick enough to keep his body warm.

... _apparently it was cold, too,_ his mind supplied.

The weather wasn't so kind that night.

"It's not _that_ cold," a first year girl frowned beside him.

"Yes, it _is_." He hissed behind the chattering teeth.

"It's still September."

"Yeah, so?"

"I think you're lying," she wrinkled her nose.

"I think I have bad tolerance for cold weather,"

"You wimp,"

Whatever.

No use arguing against a brat, anyway.

.

He entered the Great Dining Hall with a grimace, aware with the fact that he's the tallest amongst the first year students, even though he wasn't one (he's sure of it. They said that he's enrolled as a transfer student—apparently it's a big deal since it has been forever since they got one). He could hear the murmuring amongst the older students, and for the sake of appearance, tried not to gape at the sight of enchanted sky above their head. _The magic people could be so overboard with their architecture,_ he thought. Maybe it's a ploy to trap the student to actually enjoy the school, he was sure of it.

He swept his eyes to the front, and outright stared at the sight of a talking hat welcoming them to Hogwarts with a song. He forced himself not to react when, once again, coldness swept inside his very soul and let it out of his system in a form of blue vapor. He stood silent even as the first years smiled excitedly as their name being called for a sorting by... that... that _thing_.

 _The wizards are crazy,_ his mind whispered as his stomach churned uncomfortably.

.

"Fenton, _Daniel_!"

His turn.

.

He walked silently onto the stool, bored expression betrayed his whirling panic as the professor put the hat down on his head. _He didn't want to be here._

The enveloping warmth he felt under the brim of the tattered Sorting Hat just made him felt more uneasy than before.

.

 _The Hat is alive._ _.._

 _._

-o0o-

 **AN:**...well, some of you did try to guilt-tripping me and I do feel guilty if discontinued this fic, but—congrats, you succeeded. For now. Just, please, don't do it again. I'm not good at promising things, you see?

By the way, at least there will be a third chapter.


	3. Three: Insignia

.

 _lumutness_ presents...

 **A Living Ghost**

(HPxDP drabble collection of sorts.)

.

 **Disclaimer  
** Danny Phantom © Nickelodeon  
Harry Potter © JK Rowling

 **Warning!**  
Drabble. No real plot.

-o0o-

 **Drabble 3.  
Insignia**

He stared—long and hard—onto the proud badge of his new dormitory.

Stared.

"..."

...stared.

"..."

...and stared.

"..."

It can't be.

"...Seriously!? _A_ _ **BADGER**_!?"

The rest of the—adorable, gullible looking, _tiny_ —first-years eyed him funny at that sudden outburst.

Hufflepuff's house insignia looked like as if it's taunting him, yellow and proud and aristocratic all at once, even with _that_ choice of animal being their house symbol.

.

' _It suits you perfectly, little badger,'_ he could hear Vlad's annoying voice echoed loudly in his mind.

 _Crud_. He will definitely _**never**_ going to get the end of this.

-o0o-

 **AN:** After the relatively grim atmosphere in the first two chapters, are you surprised that I write something like this?

...haha, sorry. Me and my sense of humor. I can't help it.

I _do_ have a reason to put him in Hufflepuff, besides the badger joke. Actually, I can see that Danny has qualities each house would have been proud of, so I imagine it must be hard for the Sorting Hat to choose. He's totally brave in and out of battle (got that recklessness down pat), cunning and ambitious when it suits him (too bad he's not a pureblood), and then I'm conviced that there's hidden intelligence behind all that C-marks he got in school (I'm sure his family is all Ravenclaw-worthy if they had been a witch/wizard—even Jack). Lastly, he's loyal to his family even though his parents often threatened to rip him apart 'molecule by molecule' (in their defense, they didn't know that Phantom was their son).

Still, he's too lazy to be a Ravenclaw and not pure enough to be a Slytherin. Basically it's choosing between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. The obvious choice should be Gryffindor, but I want to twist this into non-obvious way. As a super-powered teenager who wanted to be seen as a hero, I'm sure Danny had a lot of time to spent thinking about precious things and people he wants to fight for, and willing to work hard—do almost _anything_ —to protect them (I think a lot about TUE here). By that reason alone, I can imagine Helga Hufflepuff wanting to keep him under her wings, had she been alive at the moment. She might be willing to fight Godric for that.


	4. Four: Say Hello

.

 _lumutness_ presents...

 **A Living Ghost**

(HPxDP drabble collection of sorts.)

.

 **Disclaimer  
** Danny Phantom © Nickelodeon  
Harry Potter © JK Rowling

 **Warning!**  
Drabble. No real plot, honestly. I just wing it from here. Also _no pairing_.

.

-o0o-

 **Drabble 4.  
Say Hello**

Their first meeting sounds like a chliched romance novel, really.

.

" _Can you believe it, Ron? The author of this book is actually a muggle! He was a witch hunter, no le— "_

A violent bump.

"OUCH!"

"OWW— _Hey_ , watch it!"

Crash. _Fall_. Twist.

 _Drop the book._

Hit the floor.

Rub your buttocks.

 **...and blink**.

Proceed to stare for five heartbeats.

"Oh." Hermione said intelligently, "You are—"

"— _you are a girl!?_ "

That sreeching voice made Hermione instantly frown. Is there anything _wrong_ with being a girl?

Aquamarine eyes blinked at her once again. Inky black hair. Yellow robes. _Hufflepuff_. The expression on that face was dumbfounded.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to insult—ugh, I thought the snake boys were at it again. You know, the green ones." Hermione continued her observation as this boy gave her an unapologetic grin.

It was the new kid with American accent.

The kid rose to his feet and dusted himself, then extended his arm to reach the bushy haired girl, "You okay?"

"Yeah," Hermione accepted that offer, "thank you."

She watched curiously as he crouched to pick her book up, " _Ghost again..._ " he sighed in a hushed whisper, "Johnathan Nightingale?" His eyebrows rose up in mild surprise.

Hermione instantly perked up, "You know this author?"

"Uh," he winced a little, "I have heard of his name, that's all. Didn't know he was a wizard."

"Really? Where did you hear it? Actually this is said that he was a muggle, but—"

"Aren't you the new bloke from Hufflepuff?" a voice interrupted suddenly.

Said bloke groaned indignantly ("Canweplease _ **not**_ talkaboutmydorm?") as he facepalmed into his hand. Oh, yeah. Hermione forgot for a moment there that she was with Ron—and Harry.

"Um. Hi," Harry waved almost too excitedly, "maybe we should introduce ourselves first?"

"Oh, yeah." Hermione nodded, "I'm Hermione Granger. This is my friend Harry, Harry Potter," no recognition to the name of The-Boy-Who-Lived. Was he a muggleborn? "...and this one is Ronald Weasley. We call him Ron."

"Oh, um. Hi, I'm Danny. You know me. They kinda shouted my name at the Dining Hall on the first day," he rubbed the back of his neck as he said that, "Sorry to bump at you like that."

"Are you from Ilvermorny, mate?"

Danny blinked twice.

"Ilver—what?"

"You know, school. I heard they have one like Hogwarts back there in North—"

" _Fenton!_ " A rushed steps. Hermione remembered that voice. The newcomer panted as he walked towards their direction, " _...I'm sorry you have to wait long. I promised to give you a tour around Hogwarts, after all, and—_ "

Danny turned his face towards that voice, " _Geez_ , Cedric, just call me Danny, will you? Besides, I didn't wait that long,"

Cedric Diggory.

"I see you finally made new friends," he looked amused.

"Yeah, yeah, tease me whatever." Danny rolled his eyes, and then turned again to face the Gryffindor trio, "Uh, guys? Gotta go. Catch you later!"

" _Wait. I just arrived here_ —"

"C'mon, Cedric. We don't want you to be late again—"

Danny waved and caught Cedric's arm, before their figure dissapeared into a crowd of students. Hermione's eyes lingered, and her brain began to work its machinations.

.

 _("Johnathan Nightingale?")_

 _("I have heard of his name, that's all...")_

.

She held her book tighter, and smiled meaningfully.

* * *

 **AN:** I have a hard time with Harry's characterization (I have a... _fuzzy_ explanation on why was he so excited, though), and since I only watch HP movies and one HP novel (the 5th book) in Bahasa Indonesia a long time ago, it's truly not enough reference to start. Especially if we are talking about Hogwarts' resident ghosts. Any advice about this?

And before somebody ask: no, there will be no romance.


End file.
